CHAPTER 2 - HIRED
"He is a very stressed man" The woman explained as she walked. She wore a tailored suit and secretary glasses. Her high heels made a loud echo against the walls of the hallway "Please excuse his tempered behavior". The man next to her remained silent, both of them staring at the doors they were approaching. "I didn't inform him that I hired you, I was hoping it would appear as a pleasant surprise" She said trying to keep a conversation going.
"Is that really a good thing?" The man finally spoke. His voice was raspy and it was distorted by the mask he was wearing. The weapons he was sporting made a small, but frequent clacking sound against each other. He wore so much armor and clothing, not a single bit of skin showed.
"Guess we'll find out". Once they reached the doors, a loud pounding noise resonated through the walls. The woman looked at Deathstroke with concern before opening the doors.
The room, fancy as it was, had a bunch of broken glasses and other artifacts smeared across the floor. Bodyguards were spread across the room, all staring at the man in the black mask smashing a TV with his baseball bat. A series of grunting noises came out of the man as he destroyed it, clearly angry.
"Black Mask sir" the woman exclaimed, trying to catch the attention of the man "You have a visitor". This last comment made Black Mask drop his bat and start cleaning his blazer with his hands.
"Get him out" he said without even glancing at the two of them.
"Sir, this man is here to-"
"Veronica" Black Mask interrupted "Can't you tell that I am just a bit discontent at the moment?" He said in a sarcastic, but serious tone.
"Yes bu-"
"Then you should know better" He interrupted again "Than getting a clown to try and amuse me" He said while pointing a finger at the armored man standing with a menacing posture.
"Do you want the Titans dead?" Deathstroke exclaimed, leaving the room silent for an awkward amount of time. Black Mask sat down on his messy desk.
"Why are you asking?"
"I can get rid of them"
The room fell silent again, and Black Mask slowly started laughing "YOU, HHA, think that" he chuckled "you can kill them?" He kept on laughing at the man's remark.
"I thought you were a man of business… guess I was wrong" Deathstroke started walking back to the doors, as soon as he grasped the handle, Black Mask spoke again.
"How much?" The comment stayed in the air for a couple of seconds. Deathstroke let go of the door handle and turned around.
"Five mil" He said with a firm tone of voice.
"Are you really a fucking clown?" Black Mask responded
"Even though your little 'bank robbery' failed you still are the head of all the drug trafficking on the city" Deathstroke mentioned as he slowly walked toward the desk. In response, the guards walked closer to their boss. Deathstroke and Black Mask not breaking eye contact "So there's the deal. I kill the Titans you hate so much, and in return, I get the five million dollars I so much desire"
"You think that coming to my office, dressed like a fucking lunatic is going to intimidate me enough for me to think that you can fight those prepubescent shitheads?" The suited man asked as he began playing around with a gun on his hands.
Deathstroke kept walking toward the desk, one of the guards put a hand on his chest, signaling to stop walking. Deathstroke looked at the bodyguard, immediately getting his sword and chopping the guard's hand off. With quick action, he got a hold of his handgun and shot the two other guards, right before tackling a fourth one and stabbing him in the chest. Dodging persistent bullets that were thrown at him, he fought off the remaining guards with impressive skill, knocking one of them out while crippling another, until every guard in the room was lying on the floor.
Deathstroke stood up straight, put his weapons back on their holsters, and walked back to the desk, where Black Mask remained seated as if nothing happened. They both stared at each other, Deathstroke waiting for a comment by the suited man in front of him.
"You get half now, and the rest after you bring me the Titans" He finally said
"You want them alive?"
"Personally placing a hole through their skulls would be much amusing" Deathstroke nodded his head in agreement. "Get the man his money" Black Mask directed his voice toward Veronica, who remained calm after what had just occurred in front of her. She directed herself toward a safe on the side of the room. Deathstroke followed her.
"When can I expect the Titans in my office?" The man on the chair questioned
"First….I want to learn what I'm up against" Deathstroke responded as he received a bag of money and marched out of the room.